A portrait of James Booker by artist Gabriel Flores of Where Y'Art, as commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for its "300 for 300" celebration of New Orleans' tricentennial. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: pianist James Booker.

The icon: James Booker.

The legacy: As descriptions go, it's a dandy, from none other than Dr. John about James Booker, whom he called "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." But you could strip away most of those adjectives and still be dead-on accurate. Booker was a piano genius, plain and simple, with a singular playing style -- dizzyingly complex but thoroughly grooveable -- that made even the likes of Allen Toussaint shake his head in wonder. He was also a classic New Orleans character but a tragic one, undone early by madness and substance abuse. Regardless, in his 43 years he took the New Orleans sound to a new level, one still emulated -- and celebrated -- by countless musicians today.

The artist: Gabriel Flores.

The quote: "Human nature is the reason why I play the piano the way I do. But no just ordinary human nature -- some people say I'm a freak of nature." -- James Booker

Explore more of Gabriel Flores' work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

TRI-via

James Carroll Booker III was born at Charity Hospital in 1940. His father was a Baptist minister and his mother was a gospel singer.

He began playing the piano four years later.

When he was 9 or 10, his mother bought him a saxophone from Werlein's for Christmas, even though he had asked for a trumpet. "I was a little disappointed to see the saxophone underneath the Christmas tree, but I was appreciative enough and elated enough over blowing any instrument to stand in front of the mirror and teach myself the scales," Booker said. "I taught myself to play the saxophone."

Around the same time, the 10-year-old Booker was hit by an ambulance -- of all things -- breaking one of his legs in eight places. He was given morphine for the pain. Later in life, he would say that was the start of his substance abuse problem.

In his early teens, he played professionally as "Little Booker." He recorded his first single, "Doing the Hambone," for Imperial Records when he was just 14.

In 1960, when he was 20, he had his first -- and only -- hit, with the song "Gonzo." It was on the Billboard pop charts for 11 weeks.

The success of "Gonzo" prompted Booker to drop out of college and make music his career.

He was nothing if not colorful, known to appear onstage in satin capes, wigs and a rhinestone-studded eyepatch.

How did he lose his eye? It's hard to say. His story often changed.

In addition to studio work -- for the likes of Lionel Hampton, B.B. King, Ringo Starr and others -- he made a name for himself in the 1960s by playing an organ on Bourbon Street.

His career was sidelined for a time when he was sentenced to serve time at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a drug conviction. His career rebounded upon his release in 1974, as he became a frequent performance at local clubs -- including Tipitina's, the Maple Leaf and Snug Harbor -- and at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

He toured Europe annually, playing mostly in West Germany, Switzerland and France.

Among Booker's proteges is Harry Connick Jr., to whom Booker took a liking after meeting him and his parents at a music club. The Connicks invited Booker to their home for dinner, and a friendship was born.

Booker died in 1983 while waiting for treatment at Charity Hospital, the same place where he had been born 43 years earlier. The official cause: kidney failure, brought on by alcohol and drug abuse.